Clemson football: Tigers must run their way to a title in 2020
The run game will determine whether Clemson football wins another title in 2020.
Sports are very simplistic. To quote longtime NFL tight-end Randy McMichael “football is easy, coaches make it hard”. The path to winning championships for Clemson football seems to be an easy one.
Run the football.
Doesn’t matter how you run it or who runs it, just run the dang ball. Look at Clemson football history in the College Football Playoffs and it’s easy to see the success the Tigers have enjoyed when running the football.
Wins: 185.3 rushing yard average over six wins
- 2015 Oklahoma – 312 rushing yards
- 2016 Ohio State – 205 rushing yards
- 2017 Alabama – 91 rushing yards
- 2018 Notre Dame – 211 rushing yards
- 2019 Alabama – 135 rushing yards
- 2019 Ohio State – 158 rushing yards
Losses: 123 rushing yard average over the three losses
- 2015 Alabama – 145 rushing yards
- 2017 Alabama – 64 rushing yards
- 2019 LSU – 160 rushing yards
As great as Deshaun Watson or Trevor Lawrence’s arms are, Clemson football ability to win games has been largely based on the offenses ability to run the ball.
The 160 yards against LSU is very deceiving at that. Travis Etienne had 80 yards on the ground with just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter and then touched the ball just twice again. He had a catch for a three-yard gain with eight minutes left and then his last touch in the rushing game came with 90 seconds left in the third and he was dropped for a two-yard loss.
The last time the nation’s best running back touched the ball more than once on a drive, he led the Tigers on a touchdown drive to pull within 28-25, and then offensive coordinator Tony Elliott completely abandoned that area of the game plan which was working against LSU – ball control.
Travis Etienne has the ability to become the 36th player in college football history by rushing for 2,000 or more yards. If he is going to achieve that, there has to be a commitment from both Elliott, the offensive, and the tight end groups to accomplish this feat.
We hear all the time about how running backs struggle to play early because they just aren’t good enough pass protection. Well, why isn’t that standard applied to tight ends when it comes to run blocking?
Clemson football tight-ends have to be better in the run game
While Clemson football has had some great pass-catching tight ends over the last decade, they haven’t had too many that are strong in the run blocking scheme. If you want a good example of what this means, go watch NCST tape and watch tight end and captain Dylan Autenrieth at the point of attack.
When he plays, the NCST offense rushes for 75 more yards a game than they do without him. He is probably one of the best blocking tight ends in the country.
Clemson’s tight-ends have to become stronger at the point of attack in 2020 if the Tigers are truly going to be a well-balanced and dominant offense.
As a former offensive lineman, I can tell you that nothing helps chemistry and establishes an offensive line like lining up and running the football. With Clemson breaking in four new starters on the offensive line in 2020, developing that chemistry and that confidence is going to be paramount.
Next. ‘Asterisk’ won’t matter to the 2020 champions. dark
If Clemson football will commit to the run game in 2020, they deep enough and talented enough to lead this team to its third national title in five years.